Marionette
by Nihil Asara
Summary: Taylor triggers with a different power with a few nasty side effects.
1. Chapter 1

Standard disclaimers – I own nothing.

Hmm... Little different than my norm, this one could be fun.

**Marionette 1.1:**

It was difficult to move. Joints like the Tinman's, gone too long without oil. Two days absent from school and I felt hungrier than ever, emptier than ever, life fleeing from my body like a reverse Pinocchio. I had made a grievous mistake. I had needed time away from the bullies, needed a break from the constant harassment, but I hadn't realized just how desperate I was for energy. I knew it gave me my powers, but I hadn't realized that I needed it just to move my limbs. What would happen if things continued like this? Would my energy continue to drop until I became a living statue or would I just die? It wasn't a melodramatic statement, it was quite literally becoming hard to breathe, though as of yet I didn't feel particularly short of breath. Still, the terror I had felt as my hand locked up around the clicker back at home was all but spent. I felt... hollow. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing to drift off for awhile. I'd be better in the morning.

_'No! I have to stay awake!' _I couldn't stop now, not without the risk of never waking up again. I needed to find a parahuman, and quickly. I knew there was at least a few at school, even if I hadn't been able to pinpoint them, but I'd waited too long to take advantage of that particular opportunity. It was night now, and so far I'd been unable to find anyone with the necessary aura to sustain me. Either there were no capes in this area of the Docks or their auras were muffled by sleep. No, there had to be someone. A Ward out patrolling, or a super-powered member of E88. At this point I'd even take Lung. Anything to make me stop feeling like a marionette with cut strings.

I was moving along at a good clip, despite the increasing stiffness of my joints and the slowing of my heart. It was easier, I found, to just focus on moving one limb at a time. The lingering vestiges of my energy fed into my levitation ability, lowering my weight to nearly nothing. My bounces lasted long enough for me to slowly reposition my leg for the next push-off. I still found it interesting that I had to dip into my Earth aspect to levitate. Something to do with gravity and mass, I supposed. With more power I could have sent myself soaring but this was enough for my purposes – besides, I had no energy to spare. As it was, one solid kick from my half-numb leg was enough to send me soaring for a dozen meters before my lingering mass pulled me back towards the ground. A gut feeling led me to kick the street lamp as I passed, sending me hurtling around the corner onto a darkened, run-down street. Battered husks of cars littered the area, some showing bullet holes among other injuries.

Then I felt it, a slight tingle of energy permeating the air. I'd gone higher on my last jump than I expected, so rather than kick off the ground I pushed off a mossy windowsill, aiming myself towards the delicious source of energy further down the street. Only my toes seemed to be working with any dexterity but somehow I managed enough force to go sailing over the length of the street. The street ended in an old abandoned lot, several trucks parked on the dirt with perhaps thirty men gathered in a loose circle inside the ring of trucks. I wasn't sensitive enough to tell which one of them was the source, but at least one of them held the key to my salvation.

As I felt myself dropping I reached out my hand to summon greater control of my levitation power, freezing myself in place a dozen yards above them. I realized a moment that I'd frozen myself all too literally. '_I can't breathe!' _Try as I might I couldn't rally my body to move. My lips parted the barest whisper, then stopped. Two minutes of panic as my consciousness railed against my impotent body later I realized that I did not actually need to breathe. This was definitely a new occurrence. Despite triggering months ago I'd never noticed my body doing anything like this. Minus the freezing cold and loss of consciousness, it was as if I'd been cryogenically frozen. My levitation ability was all that was keeping me from looking like a dead body on the pavement, unable to speak or even blink. At this point I could barely even move the focus of my eyes.

Power was still trickling into me from the nearby parahuman(s) but it wasn't enough. Barely enough to keep me from falling out of the air, I could stay here all night and not get the power I needed to walk home. I needed to get closer.

Did I dare? This outing hadn't been a planned event by any means. Early on, after the horror of the locker had faded, I'd considered becoming a cape. I'd dreamed of how I would bring justice to the streets, maybe even receive a congratulatory medal from my hero, Alexandria. Then I'd realized just how weak my powers were. Admittedly, it was nice to have more than one trick, many parahumans weren't so lucky. Unfortunately, I could only ever use two at a time, and using more than one drained my energy incredibly quickly. Using powers from two unrelated elemental aspects was so costly in terms of energy and concentration as to be nearly impossible. It was depressing, but I my power set was similar to what I imagined a toddler version of Eidolon might have.

More to the point, with my dreams of cape-dom dashed I hadn't ever bothered to make or buy a mask. When I'd left the house tonight in a desperate search for energy after my fingers locked up I hadn't bothered to stop for a disguise, not even so much as a hoodie. Still, it was rather dark. What few lights there were down below weren't focused upwards. As long as I didn't get too close I should be fine.

Cautiously I lowered myself down meter by meter until the energy I was gathering from the air exceeded what I was using to keep myself afloat. No longer feeling like I was slowly becoming an inanimate object, I finally took the time to listen. "We're getting them tonight. I don't care that they're kids. Shoot them, and then when they're on the ground shoot them again to make sure. This ends tonight."

Well, that sounded ominous. If I wasn't still frozen stiff I'd be calling the cops right about now. Well, if I had a cellphone anyways. Concentrating on my opposite hand I briefly flared my telekinesis power (also Earth aspect) to tilt myself to an angle where I could see the speaker more clearly. Even the brief use was enough to eliminate whatever small gain I'd had since arriving here. My skin felt numb all over now. I didn't feel warm or cold, just nothing, nothing at all. '_Wait a moment, is that Lung?'_ It was, and a sizable portion of his gang surrounded him. More frightening than being in ABB territory were the indications that they were packing up to leave. '_No, not yet, please, not yet.'_ How long would I stay frozen if he left now?

From the corner of my unmoving eye was a sight far more horrific than the assorted weaponry down below. My hand was white. I was never the tannest person in town, but even in midwinter I was never this pale. Like white marble, or painted wood, glossy and lifeless and utterly unbending. If I was still capable of breath, I would have screamed my heart out. '_I need to get closer.'_ This wasn't like the slow downwards drift I'd let occur before. My _need_ was too great for that. I let myself fall twelve feet before snapping my levitation back on.

"Eh?"

I gulped. My lack of forethought had caught up to me already. Directly beneath me, Lung was examining a cheap pair of black-rimmed glasses. My glasses. '_I should really start wearing contacts._

End Chapter 1.1

Was Taylor nearsighted or farsighted?


	2. Chapter 2

Marionette 1.2

The shock of having Lung stare at me was enough to knock my concentration completely haywire. I fell to the ground with my body still frozen, clattering across the tar like a mannequin. I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or horrified that I didn't feel the impact. I'd landed face down, unable to see anything other than a bit of grit and tar straight in front of me.

"You dead?" he asked, voice low and full of gravel. I said nothing back. Conversation was completely beyond me in my present state. Suddenly I toppled end over end before landing on a rubbish heap, eyes blinking against the explosion of dust. I wasn't sure, given how deadened my sense of touch was, but I was fairly certain he'd kicked me. _'I blinked? I can blink!' _I blinked a few more times just to make sure.

Given how much power Lung was pumping out I would have expected it to go a bit quicker, but I was happy I was unthawing at all. The suffocating fear of being trapped as a stone statue for eternity was rapidly easing. Unfortunately for my peace of mind it was being replaced by the fear of Lung killing me.

I wasn't sure how it would happen, but I knew the chances of getting out of this situation alive were slim. I was thawing which meant that soon I'd be able to run, but it also meant that the next kick was going to hurt an awful lot more. The best option would be to just levitate away and hope I'd gathered enough energy to finish thawing out, but I was having a bit of trouble getting into the right frame of mind to summon that particular ability. _'I guess I have to stall.'_

If I remembered correctly, the longer Lung fought the stronger, faster, and more fire-happy he grew. And that wasn't even counting the whole "transforms into a dragon" thing. If I stayed in the Earth aspect then my skin-hardening ability might help against his punches, but it wouldn't protect very well against his fire blasts. The small amounts of Fire aspect I'd channeled in the past had made me immune to matches, and presumably would do the same against Lung's if I channeled enough of it, but then he'd just beat me to death. Air was promising in that it could potentially grant me the speed to get away, but unfortunately I sucked at channeling that particular element.

_'Fire it is then.' _Getting decapitated was better than being burned alive. Besides, summoning anger at a bully out to kill kids was something I had no trouble with. I felt glorious heat torrent through my body as I switched from primarily Earth aspect to Fire. Whereas Earth was a study in momentum, difficult to move and to stop, Fire was all about hunger. Joy filled me as I took to my feet at last, limbs finally finished unthawing, but I shut it out. Joy helped with Air, not Fire. Right now, I needed anger, needed that irrational desire to set everything I saw alight, to _consume. _Still, it was an exciting perk to notice that even my eyesight had improved.

"No, I'm not dead." I could feel heat rise, bubbling beneath my skin. It wasn't uncomfortable, it was more like coming alive. Maybe it was just an aftereffect of coming so close to a living death, but I felt more alive than I'd ever been. Every moment, more and more energy was flooding into me, filling me with an unfamiliar feeling of power, of strength. I smirked as the various ABB gangbangers started backing up. Afraid of me, were they? It was a surprisingly satisfying sensation while gripped in Fire. I suspected I'd hate myself for it later, but for now it felt awfully good to not be looked down upon.

Apparently I'd basked in the new sensation of power a bit too long. Lung's fist slammed me back with the force of a sledgehammer. It knocked me backwards through the air (it didn't help that I lost weight while channeling Fire) and straight into a brick wall. I was almost thankful he'd knocked my breath away, sparing me from giving an undignified scream. From the cracking sound and the pain in my chest I had a feeling

Watching with a hint of fear as Lung's muscles bulged and limbs lengthened, I realized what I should have far sooner: they weren't afraid of me, they were afraid of _him_. I'd let my emotions get the better of me. An easy thing to do when dipping deeply into my power, but still a trap I should have known better than to fall into. Then again, this could be one case where getting carried away might not be a bad thing.

Lung's voice boomed out as he removed his metal mask, deeper than ever. "You've got guts, kid, but you're in over your head. Leave now if you want to live." Naked from the waist up, with scales forming over his steadily growing tattooed form, he cut an impressively sinister figure.

For a moment I wavered, considering just walking away. If I was lucky they wouldn't shoot me as I left. _'No.'_ They'd seen my face. If I left, it was going to be after I'd made an impression they wouldn't forget. A little piece of me was screaming that this was crazy, that I should run and never look back, but the fire in my blood sang a different tune. Even as he grew taller, so too did the energy he was pumping out, that was being absorbed into me.

I tilted my head in confusion as I noticed my skin had turned charcoal-black. Air shimmered around me, as if off desert sand. It was like I was blackened log, nearly ready to catch fire. But that would be bad, wouldn't it? Burning was bad. _'Or maybe it's just what I need.' _I shuddered as barely visible red flames sprouted across every inch of my skin, setting my clothes to smoldering. With a sickening-sounding but not particularly painful crack, I felt my rib snap back into place. "I think I'll enjoy the party for a little while longer.

End chap 1.2.

Hmm. Story's not dead. Found a plot for it. Thought of it while reading Inertia by hellequin actually, though the two stories aren't the slightest bit related really.


	3. Chapter 3

1.3

I managed to soften the next blow by stepping back, but was unable to avoid it entirely. The uppercut sent me flying but the fire on my skin flared, slowing my descent. I landed on my feet with more grace than I knew I possessed. I didn't stay on my feet long as another scaled fist pounded into my side. He followed it up with a ball of flame that swept over me like a warm breeze. Turned out the ParaWiki didn't lie. It was easy to see that Lung was getting stronger, but his speed was less physically apparent – at least until he moved. At least I was right about my Fire aspect rendering me immune to his flame attacks.

He was definitely getting bigger, judging by how small the truck behind him now seemed, but he didn't seem as gigantic as I might have expected. Following a suspicion, I looked down. _'Oh.'_ I was pretty sure the ground was further away than normal. I'd always been a bit on the tall side, but this was ridiculous. If I had to guess I was probably close to seven feet tall.

I blushed as I realized that all that remained of my clothes was a bit of ash by my feet. It was difficult to feel shame while channeling Fire, but complete nudity was still outside my comfort zone. Thankfully, it didn't appear that I had much to show. My form was still the same, but the details had been rubbed out by my transformation. There was no longer even a clear delineation between my skin and the flames. I noticed uncomfortably that Lung's partial transformation into a blue-green scaled dragon had left him similarly Ken-dolled. I sincerely hoped my transformation was reversible.

Lung attacked, and there was no more time for regrets or thoughts of the future. The gang members had all disappeared without noticing, leaving Lung with no more reason to hold back. There was nothing human about his movements now. Rather than punches, he came at me with sweeps of his claws, a fanged mouth opening to spout blue fire. I noted in amusement that it matched nicely with my now sea-green hue.

I ducked under flame-wreathed claws, moving as much by will as by muscles. In truth, I wasn't entirely sure I still had any flesh-and-blood muscles anymore. I could see beneath my skin various structures of differently-hued semi-solid flame that could constitute bone and muscle equivalents, but I couldn't be sure. Still, despite the numerous advantages my transformation gave me I was still coming up short against Lung. I could feel more and more power flowing into me, filling me with strength and flame, but that was only because Lung himself was growing more powerful. Was there no upper limit to his power? The pavement was literally bubbling beneath him. Of course, now that I bothered to notice, it felt a little soft beneath my feet as well.

I was taller than him now. Not because I was outgrowing him(though I certainly was well past the Amazon mark), but because he'd taken to all fours. From head to the tip of his tail he had to be pushing twenty feet in length. I was proud of my new height, proud of a lot of things really – Fire had a tendency to do that – but as I saw wings unfold from his back I did wonder if I was still out of his league. I barely dodged as knife-teeth thrust forward on his serpentine neck. It was the closest he'd come to damaging me since the first few strikes. Given how fast I seemed to heal I wasn't sure even a direct hit from his claws would kill me, but even with Fire clouding my judgment I wasn't eager to risk decapitation. I had to think of something, and quickly.

I frowned, or tried to. I had a feeling it came out as a moue of discontent over him not letting me enjoy the bonfire. Disregarding the danger, I swept in under his next attack to deliver a punishing blow to his ribs – punishing to me at least. I stared with more then a little apprehension at the mangled remains of my hand. My knuckles had been stripped away like shattered marble. Fear chipped away at my control of Fire but I forced it down. _'Heal, damn you!' _Responding to my efforts my hand flared white-hot, healed hand revealed as the flare died down.

_'Punching... definitely not the answer.' _I wasn't sure what other options I had though. I could maneuver in short bursts ever so slightly faster than he could by firing off bursts of flame from my hands and feet, but if I tried to run I was sure he'd catch and devour me in seconds. Fighting as I was currently doing was useless as well. Physically hitting him hurt me more than him, and the fire I could conjure did nothing against dragon hide. If there were any other abilities to be had from the Fire aspect, I hadn't experimented enough with it enough to find out.

How long could this continue? Both of us growing more and more powerful, flames growing hotter and higher until the whole city could see us burn? It wouldn't be long before more than the tar would burn. Something had to be done. Perhaps I should have gone with Earth after all, but it was too late to change now. I'd die to the heat coming off of Lung if I relaxed the heat immunity of my current aspect for even a moment. But... was it possible to use more than one element at once? Previous attempts had ended with pounding headaches and hardly anything to show for it, but I hadn't had this sort of power at my fingertips back then. Well, it was hardly as if I had anything to lose.

Sending a steady fountain of flame at Lung's eyes to keep him blinded I searched inside myself for Earth. I was growing more slowly thanks to expending energy on the flame attack, but it was a necessary evil. It was a difficult task to keep my confidence, pride, and hunger, while simultaneously searching for solidity, momentum, _eternity. _Then, marvelously, I found it. A perfect mix of the emotions, more wonderful and terrible than I'd ever imagined.


	4. Chapter 4

Marionette 1.4

It started at my toes, like water running uphill. Lung and I watched in fascination as liquid metal curled up across the flames that formed my body. Tarnished silver in color, it was as much a part of me as the flames were, covering me like skin. Dimly, my fire could still be seen within. That was the last sane observation I made before leaping at Lung.

It was glorious. I'd never known what true power was before now. I felt like I could crush stone in my teeth, shatter tanks with a single blow, devour the whole world if I wished. I had no issue punching Lung anymore. I slapped away Lung's claws with casual ease, three of them shattering against my metallic skin. They left small fire-spouting divots in my palm but they sealed up in less than a second, metal flowing in to fix the gap.

I was on him then, hands sinking into his back for purchase. He bucked and took to the air, trying to throw me off. As if I would let that happen when the energy pouring out from him was so sweet. Over his wide back I caught sight of the expanse of Brockton Bay, little balls of warmth everywhere, tempting me to taste them. I savored the view, the possibilities, then I bit off Lung's wing. We tumbled end-over-end for thirty yards before tumbling into and through a derelict factory building.

Even while falling to the ground, the ever-voracious flames within me were all too eager to make a snack of the wing. Opening my maw wide, my inner fire flared and the wing was vacuumed in and burned as fuel. The last of it was gone by the time we finished sliding across the pavement. As Lung tried to regain his feet, I took advantage of the buffet and tore off the other wing with my teeth. It made an excellent snack, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to what I sensed inside him. To get a real meal, I'd have to find the source.

I wasn't one to waste food, so I decided to eat my way in. Lung didn't seem particularly happy with the idea given the way he was struggling and generally making a mess of our surroundings, but honestly if he didn't want to be eaten he should have been less tasty. With such an easy source of energy I quickly caught up to him in size. Lying on my side, my hips alone stretched above the two-story buildings surrounding us. It was time for the main course.

I had a good idea where the energy was coming from now. It seemed to pool in his chest and emanate outwards, but the _source_ of it, that was located a bit higher. Bathing in Lung's final explosive eruptions of flame I clamped my jaws over his in a predatory kiss. Then it was a simple matter of unhinging my jaw like to a snake to swallow the rest of the dragon's head.

Biting through his neck like a baguette, ecstasy rolled through me as his essence was consumed. All too swiftly it was finished, but it was enough juice to leave me high off my success. I roared my triumph to the heavens as his body fell to the ground, limp and lifeless. Quite swiftly it shrank back to human proportions, scales melting away as it regained human skin tone. I wondered if I shouldn't shrink as well. It would be easier to hunt if I could actually fit through the streets. Concentrating, I compacted myself down until I was little larger than my normal height. It felt a little uncomfortable to press myself into such a small container, but it wasn't all bad. My metal skin felt stronger than ever, my fire hotter, all the power of my larger form pressed into a smaller package.

Sensing someone behind me I turned, just in time for two darts to ping against my eye. While not harmful, it was shocking enough to make me recoil. Surging forwards I caught them before they hit the ground. Curiously they were connected to wires, and lit with crackling electric-blue light as held them in my hand. Gradually the light increased until I could feel a small tickle running down my skin and out my feet to the ground. _'A taser?' _I wasn't interested in playing scientist so I didn't give it any further thought. I was busy making plans for the morsel on the other end of the wires.

Was it better to eat them slowly and savor them or just swallow them in one gulp? Lung's essence still roiled comfortably within me, so I decided to take in this next snack at a more sedate pace. It was a simple task to knock the weapon out of its hand, but its armor presented some problems. The power that lay within was nowhere near as great as Lung's. I'd have to be careful not to squish my prize before I was ready to eat it.

I held it _(him)_ down, not budging a millimeter from its _(his)_ struggles. There didn't appear to be any easy way take apart the armor. I'd just have to pick apart the armor piece by piece. After that I'd start munching _(stop!) _on the limbs and work my way in. Hopefully its _(Armsmaster's) _essence, while smaller than Lung's, was just as tasty. Afterwards the hunt could really begin _(**Wake up!)**_.

Sanity came to me with the force of an anvil. Horrified, I pushed away Armsmaster with enough force to indent him in a wall. I staggered back, head pounding. Briefly I saw two girls descending from the sky before everything went white.

_End 1.4_

Btw, does anyone know what Panacea calls her sister? When in costume and not? Glory Girl, Victoria, Vicky? Sis?

Gotta say... I really didn't think this fic would end up in my bottom 3 in terms of popularity.


	5. Chapter 5

Interlude 1.x Tattletale

Once again, she cursed herself for arriving late to the party. The boss had set her to the task of drawing Lung away from the center of his territory and generally bugging the shit out of him for as long as possible. Everything had been going according to plan, until it hadn't. Oni Lee had appeared briefly and had been driven off, but then things had gotten strange. The horde of gang members her power had told her was coming had never showed, and neither had Lung. More to the point, her binoculars had picked out a light show inside Lung's territory.

Gathering up the gang, they mounted Rachel's monstrous dogs and made their way to where the action was. Her power had been busy ferreting out all the possibilities, but when the head made of pure flame poked above the rooftops it hadn't been her power that said to stop, it had been her instincts. Hunkered down behind Rachel's dogs, she proceeded to watch the fight through the safety of the binoculars.

Her power proved stubbornly unhelpful. It would have been different if she'd been there before the girl transformed and gathered the appropriate data points, but as it was she had to content herself with tidbits. The flame-girl was young, probably mid-teens, and relatively unfamiliar with her abilities. And wasn't that something. A new parahuman, holding their own against **Lung** of all people. Probably wouldn't last for long though.

Lisa had to amend that prediction as her power informed her that flame-girl was a leech of some sort or another. Poor Lung, he'd finally met an enemy he couldn't outlast. _'Poor us,' _thought Lisa, realizing what else that meant. The two titans would just keep growing until the whole city was ash. She was just starting to organize a plan involving the Empire and the Protectorate to bring down the berzerkers before it was too late when suddenly all her plans became utterly useless.

Previously Lisa's power had been a little buggy when analyzing the girl, but as metal started to roll up the flames that formed her body Lisa's power completely failed her. Any attempt to find more clues about the girl's identity returned _not human, not human, not human. _ Binoculars weren't necessary for what happened next. Two titans dropping from the sky was bad enough, but then watching the girl devour and kill Lung... Lisa wondered if it wasn't time to book it for the islands. She wished she could psychically pass on the sentiment to Armsmaster as he chose the worst possible moment to arrive at the scene. They were on opposite sides of the hero-villain fence, but Lisa wouldn't wish Lung's fate on anyone. Well, maybe the boss, but he was a right bastard.

The metal-flame girl had shrunken after she finished her moderately cannibalistic meal, but she was no more human for it. It was this now six-foot monster that Armsmaster first saw, standing over the headless human corpse of Lung. In a remarkable display of stupidity, Brockton Bay's premier tinker tried to subdue her with a tinker-tech taser as if she were a common thug. She didn't seem angry at the attempt, more curious. That was all it took though. Now that he had her interest it was all over for him. A minute, maybe two, and he'd be just another casualty. It was probably time Lisa made her escape before she ended up next on the chopping block.

Something unexpected happened as the girl held her captive pinned. Just as Lisa was calling for everyone to remount, leech-girl staggered back from Armsmaster. Had he had something up his sleeve? Something that could force back such titanic power? It was hard to believe that he could succeed where Lung had failed, but maybe – no. This was all coming from the girl. There was something wrong with her. _Emotional trigger to power. _She was losing her mind, and losing control of her power as a result. She was-

"Get down!" shouted Lisa. Night turned to day as the power leech-girl had collected from Lung exploded out from her with deadly force. Even sheltered by the lip of the roof and Rachel's dogs, the reflected light alone was to burn her exposed skin before it faded. Regent and Grue proceeded to squawk as men do when afraid, and Rachel tended to her dogs, but Lisa doubted any of them knew how close a call it was. Her power told her that the slightest bit of direct exposure at this range to whatever that energy had been would have left them blind at best, and more than likely dead outright.

Cautiously she looked out over the streets, binoculars misplaced during the explosion. With the flames ignited during the battle swiftly dying there wasn't much light left in the area, but Lisa could still see leech-girl in the distance, albeit not well. Her skin looked like it had turned from metal to flesh, proving that no matter what her glitchy power told her the girl was in fact human. Squinting, Lisa noticed that the girl didn't appear to be moving. Her power had no answers on whether the girl was alive or dead, but her natural intuition assured her that a monster like that wouldn't die so easily.

"Lisa, we need to get out of here, the Protectorate could be here any minute."

Lisa continued to stare into the gathering gloom, sure that if she could just observe the girl for a little longer she could figure out who she was, what she was after.

"Lisa!"

Sullenly she took her seat atop one of the dogs. "Fine, let's go."

The boss would want to hear about this.

End 1.x

Ah, wonderful, chapter 1 finished at last. Onwards to chapter 2. Also, to anyone who feels the urge to comment on short chapter length, please check the comments on my other stories. It's literally all been said b4. Keep in mind I'm not releasing a finished novel. If you want to read my stories without interruptions, feel free to come back in fifty years when I'm dead and hopefully they're all complete.


	6. Chapter 6

Bear with me on this chapter.

Chap 2.1

I awoke crawling, uncertain of where I was or where I was trying to get to, only sure that I wanted to get away. Everything ached, every bone, every muscle. The pavement against my bare skin was so raw against my senses that I couldn't think. Smoke bit at my lungs, acrid with the smell of burning tar. A migraine bloomed as I opened my eyes, but I fought against it.

"Victoria!" I coughed, rushing for my sister as fast as I was able. Her clothes were burned away and a fair bit of her flesh with them, but mercifully she was still breathing. Gently caressing her cheek I sent my power into her, my focus moving through her body to patch up things wherever I could until I was sure she was stable. She'd lost a lot of blood. The rest would best wait until she'd had time to eat and drink in order to not unnecessarily stress her system.

Healing her had taken longer than normal. It was possible that my migraine was a symptom of a concussion. Either that or the corpse near Victoria was throwing my off my game. I wasn't normally squeamish, but there was something about the corpse that was just _wrong. _Carefully I rolled Victoria to rest in my lap, as far from the body as I could without dragging her. Her force field would probably protect her from abrasions, but I didn't want to risk it when she was so weak. Thankfully I didn't have to look at the corpse much longer. A few moments later it simply disintegrated into dust and blew away.

I shivered, though I wasn't sure whether it was from that awful sight or just from the chill of the wind. With the fires dying out the spring air was rapidly making itself known. Clothes would help. Even a towel would be better than nothing. I pursed my lips, looking around for a suitable source of bio-material. It wasn't easy to do, but with a little time I could use my power on plants. It stood to reason that I could get a tree to make cotton or something given a little trial and error.

A groan came from the shadows, making me jump. Victoria stirred but didn't waken as I pet her hair and whispered soothing nothings in her ear. Unfortunately a wheezing breath from the same area as the groan reminded me of other responsibilities. Easing Victoria onto the pavement as gently as possible I took to my feet. Entering the shadows with caution, gradually they opened up to my eyes. Was that... "Armsmaster!" I gasped.

I hurried to his side, reaching through the open section of his helmet and visor to make contact with his charred skin. I hummed tunelessly as I examined the particulars of his injuries. Despite not having a Brute rating like Vicky, he'd come out with slightly less severe injuries. His armor had served him well, even if it looked fairly charred. I fixed up the internal bleeding first before moving to his face. Very carefully I fixed the retina damage before moving to the burn damage.

"Panacea?" Remembering my current state of undress I shrieked and altered his brain chemistry on instinct, instantly knocking him out.

"I shouldn't have done that." Morality aside, now I was the only one of us awake in a very dangerous neighborhood. I could hear sirens in the distance, which meant that whatever had happened might not have been an isolated incident.

There was a headless corpse out in the street. The closest side was burned beyond recognition, but some morbid curiosity drew me closer. _'Is that...' _There was no mistaking those tattoos. This was the infamous Lung, mysteriously beheaded. A sudden spike of fear hit me as I remembered all of Lung's past triumphs. Worried that he might still regenerate I gingerly touched his arm and delved with my power. Strikingly there was no signs of life. Normally there would be at least a cells clinging to life or bacteria building up, but there was nothing.

"Put your hands up and step away from body!"

I froze, remaining in a crouch. I'd never been more unhappy to see a cop. I knew that being caught hanging around a flesh corpse in the nude like some sort of crazy person wouldn't paint me in the best light. It would all be cleared up legally once they found out who I was, but that would cause problems of itself. This was just the sort of juicy gossip almost guaranteed to end up online on the message boards. Ideally Victoria would wake up and carry me off before any other officers arrived, but I doubted my luck was that good. True to form, Lung's body chose this moment to disintegrate, wind blowing the ash up towards my face. I jumped back–

"Ow!" I cried. "You, you _shot_ me." I looked down in disbelief at the blood welling from my arm. "Do you know who I fucking am?" I stepped towards the man, intent on doing... something, when he decided to empty the rest of his clip into my torso. I was understandably furious, though not in as much pain as I would have expected. Maybe that would hit later. In the mean time I surged forward and socked him on the jaw. Surprisingly it knocked him out cold. I moved to kick away his gun.

"Well that's new." Somehow I'd come to resemble a popular Earth Aleph comic supervillainess, Mystique. While still Amy-shaped, my skin had turned blue, and I'd picked up just enough scales to keep me PG-13 rated. Not only that, but even as I watched the bullets he'd emptied into me were now slowly oozing out, leaving smooth skin in their wake. I was at a loss as to how the change had come about.

I might lie to everyone about not being able to affect brains with my power, but I didn't lie about not being able to affect myself. It had a passive effect that kept me from caching things like the flu, but that was the extent of it. That said, if I had somehow subconsciously changed my own biology, I could guess why. I'd always been a bit envious of her powers. Strong, beautiful, with the ability to be anyone she could imagine, to escape her past.

Was it possible I'd second-triggered? I couldn't quite remember it happening, but I couldn't think of another explanation. There wasn't a lot of information on the subject thanks to it being so rare, but it would explain why my original power had functioned a little slowly, and how I'd turned myself blue. Well, that and somehow surviving an explosion of some sort that had even managed to char Glory Girl. This could be the start of something wonderful. I took a deep breath as I appreciated the moment.

Then I got covered in foam.

End 2.1

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